


a picture to remember

by phylocalist



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, DJ Otabek Altin, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mild Language, Near Future, Yuri Plisetsky-centric, Zine: Terra Incognita 2.0, friendship is beautiful!!, mild cursing because: yuri, yuri has friends!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 10:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15772119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phylocalist/pseuds/phylocalist
Summary: The Katsuki-Nikiforov family (and friends) take a much needed vacation in the off-season to visit Phichit's home country, Thailand. Everything is going well, until everyone starts to act suspiciously and secrets start being kept from Yuri.-“We have today free until 7pm, guys!” Victor’s head pops into Yuri and Otabek’s room with a smile on his face the next day. “You’re free to do whatever you please until then. But don’t get too tired, you’ll need your energy for later.”Victor winks to Otabek and Yuri can see a slight blush appear on Otabek’s cheeks. First Phichit, now Victor? What the fuck is going on and why does everyone but him know it?Yuri glares accusingly at Victor, which he notices and shrugs nonchalantly. “Just a suggestion.”





	a picture to remember

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for the Terra Incognita (aka Unknown Land) Zine! i would like to thank the mods and other participants for the wonderful experience and allowing me the honor of being part of this zine! you can check out more works from the zine at the zine's [twitter](http://twitter.com/unknownlandzine) and/or [tumblr](http://unknownlandzine.tumblr.com), which i definitely recommend you do as they are all amazing.
> 
> as always, i take any opportunity to shower that good boy (yuri) with healthy friendships and lots of love. i hope you enjoy this!

“Welcome to Thailand!”

Phichit receives them cheerfully at the airport. He’s at the arrivals section with a big banner that says _Katsuki-Nikiforov family_ in big black letters—underneath it, almost like it was added as an afterthought, smaller black letters read _and friends_ —and a big happy grin.

Yuri is sure his expression is the exact opposite.

They’d all met up at the St. Petersburg airport, bright and early, only to find out their first flight had been delayed for about two hours and a half. After that, once they’d arrived in Bangkok, they’d been told their connecting flight to Phuket had been cancelled due to a problem with the airplane’s engine and they’d had to wait another two hours for the next flight. All in all, Yuri had spent about five hours more in airports than he’d first expected and even a minute more than necessary spent having to be in close quarters with not only Victor and Katsuki, but also Mila and Sara was _too much_.

So, Yuri is _anything_ but happy. He wants to lock himself somewhere that these people can’t get into otherwise he’s gonna start throwing punches and nobody is going to like that, not even him.

“We’ll be at the hotel soon.” Otabek nudges him softly with his shoulder. Yuri turns back to him and sighs, nodding slightly.

Right. The hotel. While they’re all technically staying in the same hotel room, it’s divided into smaller rooms for two people with doors separating the spaces, so there will be at least a wall between both him and the idiot husbands and the couple of old hags.

When Yuri starts paying attention again, Phichit has already discarded the big banner and enveloped Katsuki into a big hug, and Victor has taken out his phone to snap a picture, a hand over his mouth like he’s witnessing the most heartfelt reunion of the century. Yuri sticks out his tongue at all of them. Bleh.

Suddenly, Yuri notices a shadow moving towards him out of the corner of his eye. He quickly side steps, managing to avoid the hugging-monster Phichit by a mere few inches, who instead wraps his arms around Otabek and pouts at Yuri.

“I see you still haven’t learned how to greet people, Yurio!” Phichit complains, even while cheerily hugging Otabek, who remains calm and stoic. He just reaches a hand up to pat Phichit’s back while he’s hugged, completely unfazed.

Yuri, on the other hand, grimaces at Phichit. “ _Normal_ people don’t greet like that.”

“Friends do!” Phichit retorts, smile almost too bright.

Yuri only rolls his eyes and side steps once more when Phichit tries to hug him again, after which he gives up and goes to hug Mila and Sara instead, who happily accept his hugs.

It takes them a few minutes more than necessary, but they all finally get on the way to the hotel. Phichit sends them all off in a taxi to their hotel and he returns to the place he’s staying at, his cousin’s house, promising to meet them later for a rundown on their schedule, which he has planned almost to the time they should all be taking bathroom breaks. Yuri doesn’t doubt Phichit’s ability to make for a good tour guide, seeing as Thailand is his home country and he has visited this state quite frequently, but he doesn’t need a routine planned out for him almost as strict as the ones Yakov and Lilia give him when he’s training. He’s on vacation, for Christ’s sake, even if it doesn’t exactly feel like it when he’s still spending time with the same people he does at the rink. It’s not like he knows anyone else, anyway.

Once they arrive at the hotel, Yuri immediately runs to the room he’s sharing with Otabek and flops down onto the bed. It’s soft and smells clean and the best damn thing Yuri has laid on for over 18 hours. He hears Otabek chuckle slightly, and watches him out of the corner of his eye as he brings his suitcase to the side of his bed and sits down onto it. He sighs as he lays down, with much more grace than Yuri, and closes his eyes.

He didn’t even notice how tired he truly was until after laying down on the bed, but now Yuri’s eyelids seem to weigh over a thousand pounds with how much he can’t keep them open. Slowly, he gives in and finally falls asleep.

 

*

 

The next few days are spent exploring the city, walking through local markets and big-name brand shops — Victor specially goes crazy for the latter ones. Yuri tags along with an air of disinterest; it’s not that he’s not _enjoying_ it, but he hasn’t found anything that catches his attention too strongly.

After the second day he loses count of how many selfies have been taken and uploaded to instagram. He scrolls through his feed out of inertia laying in bed at the hotel after a shower. He scrolls past all of the ISU posts, likes a few of his rinkmates’ pictures and cringes at all the pictures of his fans looking for his exact location on his Explore. When he refreshes his feed by accident, one of Victor’s posts turns up at the top.

 

 **v-nikiforov  
** Phuket, Thailand

[Image description: Phichit and Yuuri talking with a stall owner at one of the many beautiful Phuket local markets on the first picture. Mila and Sara picking out clothes at a mall on the second picture. Yuri and Otabek having popsicles under the unrelenting Thailand sun on the third picture. Lastly, a selfie with Victor and Yuuri, each of them with a popsicle in hand and smiling warmly at the camera on the fourth picture.]

Liked by **christophe-gc** , **mari.katsuki** and 12,473 others  
**v-nikiforov** Enjoying our time visiting **@phichit-chu** ’s wonderful home country!  
3 hours ago

 

Yuri blinks. He hadn’t even noticed when Victor had snapped the picture. He feels his ears heat up as he likes it, scrolling down fast after he does. It could as well just have been a slip of the finger, it’s not like he’s happy to be on Victor’s instagram for everyone to see.

(It’s a good picture, though. The golden sunshine filtering through the leaves of the palm tree they were taking a break under covers both him and Otabek in spots of light, the grass greener than any he has ever seen in Russia. He remembers that moment: the sweltering heat and the small relief that the popsicle offered, the slightly dusty taste of the air and the background noise of the ever-busy streets of Thailand. He silently screenshots the picture.)

 

*

 

On the fourth day, Yuri catches Phichit taking Otabek aside and talking with him in hushed tones. He thinks about joining them, walking straight to them and demanding to be made part of the conversation, but the way Otabek smiles softly and nods with bright eyes stops him. He walks over to Mila instead, who is ordering a frappé at some local coffee shop. Yuri eyes the menu behind the bar with distrust; not like he can read any of it as it’s all in Thai.

“What did you order?” he asks Mila.

“A mocha frappé. Did you want one?”

“I…” Yuri frowns. “I’d order hot coffee but I feel like if I were to drink hot coffee in this weather I’d die.”

That startles a laugh out of Mila, who turns to put one arm over Yuri’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Yuri, just admit you want the sugary drink. There’s no Yakov or Lilia around here to tell you off,” she says, and pulls on Yuri’s cheek like he’s a kid.

Yuri slaps her hand away. “What the fuck, I’m not five years old, don’t pull my cheeks. I have enough with Dumb and Dumber babying me all the time.”

Mila turns back to look over her shoulder to where Victor and Yuuri are sitting on a table for two, sharing a pastry and mooning over each other. Yuri rolls his eyes at the scene, and then Victor gets something on his face and he laughs like an idiot as Katsuki tries to wipe it away.

“They always have to make a fucking show out of everything,” Yuri mutters, glaring daggers at them.

Mila rolls her eyes, fondly exasperated. “Do you want the frappé or not, tiger boy?”

“Yeah, whatever, old hag,” Yuri answers, looking down to the shirt he’s wearing. They’d found it on one of the local Phuket markets, a black sleeveless shirt with a hand-painted tiger sewed on the front as a patch. It’s fucking badass and he loved it at first sight. It’s not his fault Mila has no fashion sense.

She finally walks away and takes her arm off of Yuri’s shoulders as she walks to the register once again, consulting her phone’s translator before ordering Yuri’s drink in a language that Yuri understands exactly zero words of. He has to admit he’s pretty impressed with how much effort Mila’s put into enjoying the trip and learning about the country’s culture. All of them are doing it too, making the best out what little time off they get every off-season, but Mila has definitely been putting a great deal of effort into communicating with the locals in the best way she’s able to with her very limited Thai. Phichit helps her out sometimes, but even Yuri isn’t stupid enough to take away from her every opportunity to make mistakes and learn, even if he could actually be helpful in any way.

“Kob jai,” Yuri says when the drinks are brought to the small table Yuri and Mila are sitting at because it’s the only words he bothered to learn in Thai. Mila looks at him with wide eyes and a snarky smirk. “What? It’s not like I have no manners,” Yuri barks at her, defenses up.

Mila just laughs and beckons Yuri closer with a hand. “Come here, let’s take a picture to commemorate this moment.”

 _What moment_ , Yuri doesn’t ask. He just rolls his eyes and edges closer to her.

Moments later, a notification pops up in Yuri’s phone telling him he’s been tagged on a picture on instagram.

 

 **mila-babicheva  
** Phuket, Thailand

[Image description: Mila and Yuri, side to side, both holding up mocha frappés on one hand. Mila is smiling, while Yuri is sticking his tongue out at the camera with something like mockery.]

 **mila-babicheva** there’s no diet on the off-season! and if there is, we already broke it  (Face With Stuck-Out Tongue And Winking Eye) #pleasedon’ttellourcoaches  
Liked by **phichit+chu** , **v-nikiforov** and 1,384 others  
5 minutes ago

 

Yuri snorts at the caption and instantly likes it.

 

*

 

“We have today free until 7pm, guys!” Victor’s head pops into Yuri and Otabek’s room with a smile on his face the next day. “You’re free to do whatever you please until then. But don’t get too tired, you’ll need your energy for later.”

Victor winks to Otabek and Yuri can see a slight blush appear on Otabek’s cheeks. First Phichit, now Victor? What the fuck is going on and why does everyone but him know it?

Yuri glares accusingly at Victor, which he notices and shrugs nonchalantly. “Just a suggestion.”

“Well, you can take your suggestions somewhere else, old man. _We_ still have energy to spare, unlike someone else,” Yuri says, mockery in his face as he smirks towards Victor.

Victor frowns and suddenly he’s over Yuri, trying to get to his ribs to tickle him. Yuri fights against it but Victor manages to reach his sides and tickle him, which instantly sucks out all the strength out him.

“Take it back!” Victor yells from above him, a wicked grin on his face as he refuses to stop tickling him.

“Fine!” Yuri manages between gasps for breath and laughter. “You have enough energy for an old man! Now let me go, you demon!”

Victor stops tickling him with an air of triumph. “I guess that’s as good an apology as I will get.” He shrugs and climbs down the bed where he’d attacked a resting Yuri.

Yuri wipes at his eyes for the small droplets of tears the laughter had provoked and glares at Victor, but he can’t hide his smile. He clutches at his sides, which hurt slightly from the laughter.

“Fuck. You’re still an old man.” Yuri spits out as Victor walks out of the room and he flips the bird to his back.

He unfurls from his hunched over position and sprawls himself on the bed over his back, unable to wipe the stupid smile from his face. After a moment, he feels a pair of eyes staring at him and he turns towards Otabek’s bed, who is watching him with amusement and warmth in his eyes. He doesn’t break eye contact when Yuri locks eyes, instead turns his head in that way that means he’s about to ask a question.

“Is there anything you wanted to do today?” Otabek asks, his voice curious but never insistent.

“Nah.” Yuri turns his eyes back towards the ceiling. “I think I just want to take it easy until we have to go out later today,” he says and then turns back towards Otabek once more. “Was there anything _you_ wanted to do?”

Otabek shakes his head.

Suspicious, Yuri narrows his eyes. “You know where we’re going later today.” It’s not a question.

Otabek seems startled at the words and he turns to Yuri with slightly wide eyes and a sheepish gaze, like he’s surprised to have been caught in the act. Yet, he offers no answer to the unasked question. Yuri rolls his eyes and turns over to his side, facing away from Otabek and absentmindedly scrolling through social media on his phone.

Whatever, then. If nobody wants to tell him what’s going on, he’ll just find out sooner or later.

Yuri gets absorbed into his phone far easier than he’d expected and, before he notices, a couple hours have passed. He turns around on the bed, looks over to the other side of the room and finds Otabek still gone. Yuri had heard him leave, a quiet _I’ll be back soon_ to which he responded with a grunt. He gets up and walks out the bedroom and to Victor and Yuuri’s, peeking in through the open door. Katsuki is picking out clothes on one side of the room and Victor is putting makeup on in front of the vanity.

“Where are we going?” Yuri finally asks because he’s tired of their secrecy now, and Victor is putting way too much effort into his makeup for them to not go anywhere important.

Victor is startled into dropping the mascara wand and letting out a little yelp. “At least knock before, Yurio. You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

Yuri smirks, reclining against the doorframe. “The door was open, old man. Not my problem you’re getting old and jumpy.” Victor glares at him. “Anyway, where are we going?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Victor says, a gleam in his eye that Yuri definitely does _not_ like. He picks up the mascara wand from the floor and pulls a different mascara bottle out from his makeup bag. “Don’t be impatient, _kotyonok_. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Yuri turns to the sound of footsteps and finds Katsuki coming out of the bathroom. He’s just getting more and more suspicious, and more and more frustrated that they won’t just tell him where the hell they’re going.

“Katsuki, where are we going?” He demands more than asks this time.

“Uh,” Yuuri flusters, looking at Victor with panicked eyes.

“Yuuri, don’t tell him. Phichit made us promise,” Victor interrupts him before anything else can come out of his mouth.

Katsuki turns to him, an apologetic smile on his face. “I’m sorry, Yurio. You’ll love it, though! I can guarantee that.”

Yuri hums noncommittally. It’s not like he hates surprises, he just hates the feeling that everyone else is hiding something from him. Being left in the dark is never enjoyable for anyone, and he’s not the exception.

“I just…” He tries to say something, explain, but the words escape him like always. He rubs at his temples with both hands and closes his eyes, frustrated with himself. “Fuck.”

He hears shuffling and steps coming his way and then a hand pull on his arm, so he finally opens his eyes and finds Victor looking at him with bright eyes, the same way they shine whenever he comes up with a new choreographic step sequence. Yuri looks at him skeptically, curious but cautious.

“You may not know where we’re going, but _I_ do,” Victor starts and Yuri is about to interrupt him to tell him to _stop rubbing it in, asshole_ , but he continues before Yuri can get anything in. “So I’ll help you with your makeup. You’ll look great.”

Yuri squints, assessing the makeup that is already on Victor’s face. It’s pretty light, with a touch of glitter here and there, nothing too over-the-top. Worst case scenario, he hates it and steals Mila’s makeup wipes to take it all off. He’s really got nothing to lose.

“Alright, old man. But. If you make me look bad I’ll punch you,” Yuri says, completely serious.

Victor snorts. “I wouldn’t have expected less from you.”

 

*

 

They’re all ready when 7pm rolls around, which is nothing short of a miracle. They’ve all put on their best outfits, it seems like, and Victor had even insisted on helping Yuri out with putting on some makeup. Truth be told, the eyeliner on his eyes and the subtle glitter on his cheeks look amazing and compliment his features perfectly. It’s almost frustrating that Victor can be so good at so many things, but Yuri supposes it’s okay while he can take advantage of them.

Yuri almost expects a big reveal when they arrive at the secret place, but there is no such thing. There is only Phichit throwing his arms up and yelling, with a big smile on his face: “Welcome to Patong!” which is normal Phichit behaviour.

Even without the big reveal, Yuri still marvels at the place. They’re currently standing at the start of a big street that allows no cars in, so everyone at Patong is just walking all over the place, and there is _a lot_ of people. If Yuri thought the Phuket markets were crowded, this is on a whole nother level. Every single stall that lines the street is at least half-full, and some are so crowded Yuri thinks he’d get crushed trying to get in.

As they walk down the street, Yuri looks around, trying to drink everything in. The night looks neon-colored thanks to all the stall’s lights, a thousand different kinds of music coming from all the different bars and restaurants. It’s like nothing he’s ever experienced before, the bustling street full of happy, drunk laughter and the warm smiles of families having dinner at the restaurants so different from the ever-present cold of St. Petersburg. It’s like he’s walked into a completely different world, one that runs on alcohol, warmth and smiles.

Phichit is excitedly chirping away next to him, but Yuri can’t pay attention to his words long enough to figure them out. A kid runs by him, uses him as a shield for a total of 2 seconds and then runs away once more, closely followed by another child. He accidentally locks eyes with someone drinking beer in one of the bars and the person raises their bottle to him, smiling.

“Sawat die toon jen!” they say.

Yuri returns the smile nervously and nods. He has no idea what they just said.

After a good time walking and stopping by some of the bars and restaurants for drinks and snacks, they arrive to a street that seems to be even more populated than the main one if only because there are several people outside the buildings trying to pull people in. Yuri eyes them with distrust. He’s not even of legal age yet.

“This is Soi Bangla,” Phichit says next to him, nudging Yuri with his shoulder. He keeps talking as they all walk, following his lead. “It’s _the_ place in Patong to visit if you want to get drunk or go clubbing, since here are the best places to do that in. And…” he trails off, dropping one arm over Yuri’s shoulders and smiling at him. “That is _exactly_ what we’re here to do! Well, no the getting drunk part for you, my dear Yurio, but the clubbing part!”

Yuri turns to him, eyes wide, and stops trying to slap Phichit’s arm away. “Is that the secret you’ve all been keeping? A club? It better be a damn good one.”

Phichit laughs openly, shining bright even in the moonlight. “Oh, you’ll love it! Just look at it!” He points with one arm towards the end of the street and Yuri finally _sees it_.

Big neon letters spell out the name on the front of the building: _Tiger_. The building shines like the sun with all the lights turned on, a triad of tiger statues carved into the front of it, palm trees and jungle leaves all around them. It’s the best damn thing Yuri’s ever seen, his eyes positively sparkling.

“We - we’re going in there?” He asks, pointing to the Tiger building.

“Of course we are!” Phichit says. “I mean, you’re technically still not allowed to go in, but I’ve got _contacts_.” He winks at Yuri with his index finger over his lips. “And you’re not gonna be only one having fun, Otabek is playing a special DJ set.”

Yuri eyes Phichit with wonder. He’s unsure if he should be afraid or amazed of him.

“Talking about that, Otabek’s time is starting soon, so let’s hurry,” Mila says.

As they walk towards the building, Yuri turns to Otabek, smirking.

“You’re playing a set in Thailand, man. How is this happening?”

Otabek chuckles. “I couldn’t tell you. I still can’t believe it myself.” One of his hands goes to his neck, sheepish. “Phichit is amazing.”

“You’re an amazing DJ, too.” Yuri frowns. “Don’t let him take all the credit.”

Otabek doesn’t reply, only smiles back at him.

The next few minutes pass in a flurry of people clothed in expensive but barely-there garments. The second floor of the Tiger disco, the club portion, is brimming with them, it’s almost impossible to walk through the crowd. A live band is currently playing in the back of the room right next to the DJ booth that Otabek will be occupying in a few minutes. The whole place is decked out with tiger motifs and, with the way the electric guitar from the band resonates through the place, Yuri feels completely in his element. Static electricity runs through his veins as he looks around, drinking everything in.

Then Otabek goes up to the DJ booth and they all claim the dancefloor as their own.

Victor and Yuuri are dancing, moving together way too close for a public space, but they’re going along exactly to the beat of the music, their bodies moving in perfect synchronization with the sound. Mila and Sara are dancing together a few people away, screaming the song lyrics to each other as they jump and laugh. Phichit had pulled Yuri into the dancefloor by the arm and refused to let him out of his sight as they danced together, Phichit’s bright smile ever present and Yuri’s energy still running high on his veins.

Yuri feels the bass of the music resonate through his bones, the notes of the music guiding his body in the only way it knows how to express itself: through dancing. Be it on or off the ice, they all know how to take music into their bodies and turn it out into something beautiful, and they show it on this dancefloor.

When Otabek’s set finishes, he joins them on the side of the dancefloor. Yuri, breathless from all the dancing and the hot press of bodies all around him, smiles bright up at him.

“You were amazing!” he yells over the booming sound of the music.

Otabek doesn’t answer, instead he just smiles back and pulls Yuri back onto the dancefloor. Yuri goes willingly, laughter bubbling up through his throat and out his mouth before he can stop it, and dances the night away surrounded by the smiling faces and enthusiastic dance moves of his friends.

 

*

 

 **phichit+chu  
** Tiger Discotheque

[Image description: A selfie taken with a selfie stick with Phichit in the middle of it, surrounded by Victor, Yuuri, Mila, Sara, Otabek and Yuri. They’re all crowding around him, smiles in all of their faces even as their expressions denote their exhaustion. It radiates happiness.]

Liked by **christophe-gc** , **+guanghongji+** and 12,794 others.  
**phichit+chu** the best way to spend a night is to dance through all of it with your friends  (Sparkling Heart) #iloveyouall #thanksforvisiting  
2 hours ago

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me at [twitter](http://twitter.com/phylocalist)!


End file.
